It really depends on what you want. I did not build my pool and due to the small backyard it is 10X20 with a 6' spa and a 10' circular baja shelf. Basically 10X46 or so feet long. It works for us and we have had kids parties where we had 12 or so kids in the pool. If I had built the pool i would have skipped the baja shelf. Just making it deeper for longer to do laps.

I think that's plenty big, our pool is almost done and its 19X27 more on the smaller scale but your size sounds just right..

thanks. i think my concern for the size is that i'd like a "deep end" so the kids can jump in. i am thinking 7 feet - we wont allow diving. so i don't know how much of the rest of the pool the kids will be able to stand in.

We have a 38' x 24' freeform pool which is 3.5' to 7' deep. I wouldn't want to go shorter for that depth but there is plenty of useable pool both in the deep end but also in the shallow end.

You're talking about a pool which is going to be circa 30,000 gallons which is definitely a good sized pool.

20X40 is a great size that size with a 7-8 ft deep end your looking at about a 40k-50k gallon pool which is a lot of water.

thanks all! i am just starting this process and really have no concept re: pool size. i am not sure how the spa impacts things - its integrated so i think it takes away from the pool size. not sure if we should get one or not. my husband definitely wants one

Aaronb1988 - it's not going to be anywhere near 50,000 gallons. 30,000 is still a big pool.

40' x 20' x 5.25' average depth (average of 7' deep end and 3.5' shallow end) = 4,200 cubic feet.

A cubic foot is approx 7.48 gallons so volume in gallons is 4,200 x 7.48 = 31,416 gallons.

The spa is integrated so will get subtracted from this.

That's a good size pool. Good calculations by Cbink

Our pool is a SPOOL aka social pool and it is 10 x 20. Deep end is 4ft 9 inches. It is perfect for the grand kids and we have parties for adults and kids alike. The size is just perfect however we wish we has more entertaining space. We have 1600sf of paver entertaining space and get quite limited when we have large gatherings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our new pool build in jacksonville

Look at this link to see our pool with at least 25 people in it and people playing volley ball..

Here is a link that might be useful: Anyone has a second thought on their pool's size?

we put in a 16x34 last summer. it was supposed to be a 16x36 with a diving board but we have a sloped yard and hit standing water at 7.5ft. we were concerned it would be too small but it was fine since it is a rectangle. we started out looking at a kidney but 16x32 kidney seemed tiny.
when we had to scale down from 36' only the shallow end shrunk but we still have 10' of shallow end (deep end is 7') i was originally concerned that it was too little shallow end but by the end of the summer, we were wishing for more deep end! our youngest is 9 is that helps. btw i would've killed for 20x40, that is huge!

btw, we also wish we had more patio space. i thought we had added in too much concrete but i wish we had more. i read tons of people on this site saying the same so we added quite a bit to the plan but i still wish we had more. our pool builder only does a 3' ft around the pool and we didn't add to the backside of the pool and i wish it was at least 4'. at the deep end we did 5' and i wish we did 6'.
hope this helps! we were first timers too and of course hindsight is 20-20

My pool is going to be 18x35 and seems small. The gunite is shot, and that's all. Hopefully is looks bigger when everything is done. Right now is seems like a small hole in the ground in the middle of the yard.

thanks! i am curious about those that said they wish they had more patio - i was going to go with the grass around the pool look - is that a bad idea???